The present invention generally relates to the field of sports throwing motion training devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a throwing motion training device comprising a plurality of data collecting sensors configured to remain in a user's hand.
While learning to pitch or throw a ball safely with proper mechanics, athletes have historically relied feedback provided by human observation and feedback provided through throwing motion training devices. A coach, an outside observer, or the athlete would observe or perceive the throwing motion and provide corrective feedback during or after the throwing session. Coaches would video record athletes or athletes would often video record themselves to observe the throwing motions and attempt to correct the motion for proper mechanics after review of the tape. Athletes and coaches would also practice throwing motions in the mirror to observe real time movements.
To supplement direct observation, athletes and coaches would integrate motion training devices that could provide active feed to the throwing motion while the athlete was practicing. The devices included mechanical solutions that would cause the device to light up, provide tactile feedback, or even audible alerts when the proper motions had been conducted. One such device includes the Sports Ball Throwing Training Device as described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,660 (“Romanick”). The Romanick patent describes a device configured to be held and remain in the athlete's hand during throwing motion practice. The device is ball-shaped and includes an elongated hollow tubular member with closed ends and an inner dowel which is freely moveable longitudinally within the hollow tube. Depending on the throwing motion, the dowel would move through the tube and activate the alert by tripping a mechanical switch indicating proper throwing motion. In some variations of the device, the device included an electric circuit internal to the ball and used a mercury switch to act as the dowel.
The advantage to using a Romanick device was that the athlete would get immediate feedback on throwing motion and could practice on their own without another person. A disadvantage of the device is that without a coach to observe for feedback, the athlete could simply find a motion that would trigger the alert and believe they were making proper throwing motions without necessarily knowing if the mechanics were proper for long term health of the arm and optimal throwing abilities. Another disadvantage to the pure mechanical solution as described above is that the device itself does not give flexibility as to changing types of pitches or throws. For example, in baseball the curveball motion and grip may differentiate from the fastball motion and grip. Mechanical devices as described in the prior art were only preconfigured for one type of motion to trigger the alert and multiple devices were needed to teach multiple throws.
Newer devices that came along included electronic solutions that integrated various sensors into balls. Some of these devices include balls having multiple accelerometers with the ability to track ball velocity, ball path, and ball spin among other metrics and statistics. Some of these devices stored the data on the device to be retrieved at a later time, while other devices included wireless radios that could transmit the data to a computer or mobile phone to track the data and provide real-time analytics. A shortcoming of these newer devices is that they require the ball to actually be thrown to acquire motion data. This requires space to throw the ball and another person or wall/net to stop the ball. The constant impact the device would take over time, the better chance there would be that the sensor device inside would be damaged over time.
Another shortcoming of these devices is that the focus of the data metrics is on ball movement as opposed to arm movement and proper mechanics. The devices still did not provide a solution for proper arm movement during a throwing motion.
The present invention attempts to overcome the shortcomings of the devices above by providing a throwing motion training device having a plurality of sensors configured to track arm motion, provide real-time feedback on mechanics, while predicting throw placement and speed.